The Xander You Know
by Brooke1
Summary: The Replacements" redux. Sequel to my other fic "Uncontrollable Urges". BX.


Title: The Xander You Know (1/?)  
Author: Brooke  
Disclaimer: Not mine. None of it. Mutant Enemy and  
Joss and WB, UPN, all those other people own it. And I  
got the transcript for the episode somewhere, too.  
Just can't remember where.  
Rating: NC-17  
Summary: Rewrite time for "The Replacements", BX  
style. Sequel to "Uncontrolable Urges".

* * *

Xander turned his gaze away from the TV and glanced  
sidelong at Buffy where she sat on the other side of  
the couch. He watched her for a couple of moments but  
the Slayer didn't even glance up. He crossed his arms  
over his chest and made sure to huff loud enough so  
that she heard him - she still didn't look up.

Frustrated Xander turned his focus back to the TV and  
shifted restlessly on his end of the couch where they  
were reclined toe-to-head with his longer legs  
confined to the much smaller back crease of the old  
sofa. He lifted his left leg and dropped it heavily on  
the other side of both of hers, now looking at her out  
of the corner of his eye.

Buffy flicked her eyes up over the top of her text  
book and regarded him for a moment. Xander was  
pretending to be engrossed in the kung fu movie on the  
screen, but was periodically looking discreetly back  
at her to gauge her reactions. Buffy sighed when his  
foot began rubbing up and down her thigh through the  
fabric of her jeans and she looked around the edge of  
the book and down at his leg. He was still pretending  
to be watching the TV. "What are you doing?"

"Watching this." Xander responded distractedly while  
gesturing to the TV with the remote in his hand.

"I meant with your leg?" Buffy's voice held a hint of  
humor as he had yet to stop the movement with it  
against her own.

"Foots asleep." He replied in a 'stating the obvious'  
tone.

"Can your foot be asleep on the floor?" Buffy asked  
and shifted her leg, kicking her boyfriend's off the  
edge of the sofa.

Xander glared at her and Buffy smiled sweetly and  
turned back to her text book. He lifted his leg again  
and propped it back next to her. "Can you take a break  
from the studying?" She shook her head at him. "C'mon  
Buff. It's history. We won."

"The Crusades?" Buffy asked skeptically.

"Yeah, sure. We're America, we always win those  
things." Xander shrugged indifferently. He nudged her  
leg with his own and pouted - a move that at least  
made her smile. That was the only opening that he  
needed and he threw in a whine to lock it home. He  
leant forward, keeping her legs a willing captive  
between his own and pulled the book from her hands.  
When he could see her expression he knew that she  
wasn't angry, so much as pretending to be really  
pissed. "Just come down here and spend time with your  
boyfriend."

Buffy furrowed her brow at him and made a weak grab  
for the book, but Xander, with a smile, held it out of  
her reach and tossed it to the floor in front of the  
TV. "I know you don't want to go get it," he teased  
and Buffy narrowed her eyes.

"And guess what else I don't want to do?" Buffy dared.  
"Climb all the way over there just to get to you."

Xander looked exaggeratedly affronted. "You weren't  
saying last night." He winked when he saw Buffy's  
demeanor falter. "You could hardly wait to get out of  
that cemetery." Buffy blushed but Xander didn't let  
up. "Giles even told us to leave before he had to hose  
us down, but by us he meant you."

Buffy gulped and forced her expression to change from  
embarrassed to innocently smug. "Well, lucky for you  
that that's not the case today, isn't it?"

Xander slit his eyes at her sweet smile and dropped  
his hand down to her calf. He traced a finger idly  
over the denim covered skin there for a moment before  
seizing it fully and tugging the Slayer down the couch  
towards were he was still seated. "Maybe not for you."

Buffy licked her lips to fuel the fire behind his  
salacious grin. "I've got homework..." her avowal broke  
off into a fit of laughter as Xander pulled her fully  
away from her end of the couch, in the process yanking  
her legs apart and tugging her closer to him.

"Anybody ever tell you about a two-way street?" His  
voice was heavy but good natured. He wrapped his arms  
around her waist when she was close enough and with a  
slight pressure against the small of her back, pushed  
Buffy closer the arousal that was mounting in his lap.  
He looked up at her through his eyelashes and fought  
his urge to kiss the lip she was now biting above him  
while her hands moved to his shoulders to brace her  
self in his hold.

Buffy was the first to crack and her head tilted the  
slightest bit when she lowered her lips to his. She  
brushed them lightly over his mouth and pulled back  
before Xander could deepen the kiss. "Wills and Oz are  
coming over soon." She whispered. "Then we're going to  
Giles' for patrol."

Xander tried to press forward again but Buffy pulled  
back teasingly with a tiny shake of her head. His  
voice would have been whiny if she hadn't just made it  
go all husky. "That's got nothing to do with the next  
six minutes."

Buffy's eyes were bright. "Does as far as I'm  
concerned, marathon man." Her taunt was well received  
since their first night together, even if it had been  
brought about by a spell at the time, was easily  
recalled by the both of them. They were both equally  
aware of the prowess that the other possessed so it  
was easy to tease when they weren't making each other  
writhe and moan. "Plus," Buffy wriggled out of his  
hold and slid back down to the end of his lap. Her  
eyes flicked down to the slight bulging visible in his  
loose khaki pants. "Your parents are going to be back  
soon too."

Xander's lips pursed and he unconsciously turned his  
eyes to the stairs that led to the upper part of the  
house. He had made it a point to try to lock the  
basement door. He figured he was paying rent, he  
should get some sort of privacy, but his father had  
quickly put an end to that. Now the basement door, not  
only, had no lock, but his parents came in and out of  
it as they pleased. It was one of the reasons that  
Xander tried to limit any of his friends coming over  
to when Tony and Jessica Harris were out.

He thought it was a little weird that they didn't seem  
to bother Buffy so much as they did him. She would  
come over whenever she pleased and had, countless  
times over the past two months, been caught by his  
mother and father just hanging out down there with  
him. The elder Harris' had stopped paying attention to  
her just as they had done Xander, and Buffy had only  
ever offered a nod in their direction once. She had  
the uncanny ability to block them out and go about her  
business. Xander's biggest problem with that was that  
it meant that Buffy wasn't as put off about coming to  
his house as he would like.

Buffy shifted closer to him again, putting herself  
almost completely back in his lap when she saw his  
mood fall. That hadn't been her intention and she was  
sorry her joking had taken that turn for him. She  
reached out and traced his jaw with light fingertips  
so that he turned his head to her. She smiled and  
pressed forward, closing her lips over his in a wet  
kiss, her tongue flicking into his mouth and against  
his briefly before she pulled back.

Xander forced his darkened mood away and grinned. "I  
hope you know that this isn't making me any less  
horny."

Mission accomplished as far as Buffy was concerned.  
Xander: Lord of the Joke, was back. "And I hope you  
know that I'm still not going to have sex with you  
right now."

"Let me be the first to thank you for that." Riley's  
most unexpected voice entered the room and both Buffy  
and Xander turned to see the soldier following Willow  
through the side door.

"Forgot to lock that." Xander whispered to Buffy while  
she pulled herself back out of his arms and slid down  
to the floor. She settled herself so that she could  
lean back and rest her head against the side of  
Xander's stomach.

"Hi guys," Willow waved brightly at her friends and  
they smiled back.

"How's it going?" Xander asked and swung his legs  
around, forcing Buffy to duck his flailing appendages  
with a roll of her eyes, and leaving her sitting  
between them.

Riley shrugged. "Same ol, same ol." He headed over to  
the couch behind the Wicca. "Wrapped up the study  
group and Willow said that she was coming over to  
watch movies and make with the relax." He turned to  
Xander and sat down on the side of the couch that  
Buffy had vacated. "Thanks for the invite."

"The more the merrier." Willow grinned and dropped  
down to the floor next to Buffy. "...is what I said to  
him on behalf of Xander. I mean...we were all going on  
patrol tonight so I thought that we could all..."

"Not a problem." Buffy interrupted her best friend's  
ramble and smiled at the awkwardly seated soldier. She  
reached behind her and rubbed Xander's thigh back and  
forth. "I told him the other day that he should charge  
for the interactive Xander's life experience that  
basement time is."

"Yeah," the Scooby nodded. "If you wanted to have the  
luke warm dryer heated Spaghetti-O's its three bucks  
extra."

"Hmm, dryer lunch." Riley bit his lip and pretended to  
think the offer over. "I think I'm still full from  
that Pop Tart I made on my desk lamp this morning. But  
next time..." he tried to reassure and Xander shrugged.

"Where's the Wolfman?" Xander turned his question to  
Willow, and Buffy elbowed him in the calf. "I thought  
he was going to show and regale us with tales of the  
seedy underbelly of rockband life."

Riley's eyes were fixed on the poorly dubbed and  
re-colored movie on the screen. "And show up this?" he  
asked sarcastically.

Buffy shook her head. "I told him this was cheesy.  
Those guys aren't even connecting with those kicks."

"Oz is just going to meet us at Giles' place." Willow  
said after a moment of silence. Both she and Xander  
were at a loss about fighting techniques, so instead  
of offering her critique of moves she would definitely  
run from, she chose to address her best friend. "The  
Dingoes are practicing for the show tonight at the  
Bronze..."

"They practice?" Xander broke his casual stare at  
Riley, who was as engrossed in the onscreen action as  
Buffy. Willow was watching him and he cleared his  
throat and grinned a little. "They always seemed more  
ad lib."

"Oh come on!" Riley exclaimed and pointed at the  
screen. "You can't just go into a kick like that from  
a complete stand still. You'dve been taken out like  
four times by then!"

Buffy nodded enthusiastically. "That flying kick was  
totally contrived. You want to take out those little  
guys first and then BAM flying kick to the midsection  
of that big guy." She pointed at the screen. "It's  
almost sad that the best part of this movie is the  
dialogue."

Willow bit her lip a little nervously while watching  
Xander's face set discreetly in stone. "Well," she  
laughed a little, silently debating her decision to  
invite Riley. It wasn't that he and Xander didn't get  
along, so much as there was more awkward silences than  
when they weren't together. "Practice includes a lot  
of Cheetos and other cheese byproducts."

"Now you really want to join a band, huh Xan?" Buffy  
set Xander with a soft smile when she craned her face  
up to see him. She reached behind her slightly and  
rubbed his calf through his jeans, "Or at least be a  
groupie."

"Hey," his smile was genuine, "I don't need to buy a  
guitar to eat cheese poofs." He cracked his fingers  
and let both of his hands fall to Buffy's shoulders,  
rubbing with a tiny amount of pressure. "Plus, I've  
already got a harem of really hot girls who follow me,  
and I got 'em doin nothing." He nodded proudly towards  
Riley, simply because he was the only other male in  
the room while both of the females rolled their eyes.  
"I'll teach you how some time."

"Does it involve magic?" Riley asked semi-seriously.  
He shifted in his seat and tried not to focus on Buffy  
while Xander was rubbing her shoulders. He was still  
somewhat bitter about them being together, and had  
narrowed it down to a combination of his not acting  
fast enough and living in a haunted frat house. If the  
Initiative had such great technology, then how come  
nobody knew that there were spiritual sex fiends  
waiting to possess college kids and be set free? That  
should have been top on the list of things to inspect  
for when they were looking for the house in the first  
place. And now, because it wasn't, he was sitting in  
this basement, with people who were, despite  
everything, his friends, and watching Buffy's face -  
eyes all closed and mouth partially opened with her  
golden hair flowing down her shoulders...if he  
concentrated he could hear slight high pitched hitches  
in her breathing...while she enjoyed that guy's touch.

"Only a little." Xander admitted slyly with a nod.

"Mmm...That feels so good," Buffy sighed and settled  
further into Xander's hands behind her. "Almost makes  
up for your bad taste in film."

Xander grinned crookedly even though she couldn't see  
him. "Kung-fu flicks are our most valuable Chinese  
import." He stopped his massage to gesture to the  
screen. "You can't learn moves like that on the  
street, missy."

"The rubbing stopped." Buffy pushed back between the  
cradle of his legs further and whined a little. She  
accepted Xander's apology by way of his resuming his  
actions.

"What about the food?" The soldier asked from beside  
him.

"And the food," Xander conceded the point.

"And the technology?" Willow asked over her shoulder,  
enjoying the only partially uneasy levity. "You  
wouldn't have that fancy-shamcy hot plate without it."

"And forget that washer-dryer combo," Buffy grinned.

Xander huffed but he kept rubbing Buffy's shoulders,  
his hands moving as if of their own accord. "You two  
and your high-falooting book learning too good for my  
humble abode?" He sighed at the silence and looked  
around his basement room. It was pretty crappy, he  
thought, just barely able to make out the sound of the  
front door slamming shut above him. No, the basement  
wasn't crappy...it was Hell. Hell on earth. "Well, I say  
out with ya," he gulped and joked weakly.

Riley chuckled a little at the pirate like accent  
Xander had used when he spoke, but then when he heard  
yelling from upstairs his smile died.

"Hey," Xander looked nervously at him while both Buffy  
and Willow concentrated on the TV. "I mean, you never  
know. They might have an opening in a one bedroom in  
Hell." He shrugged and squeezed Buffy's shoulder to  
get her attention. "You've been. See any flyers?"

"It'll be fine, Xander," Buffy sounded distracted and  
rocked her head to the side to rest on the top of his  
hand.

"Yeah," Willow smiled up comfortingly despite her  
friend's despondent expression. A particularly loud  
thump preceded a chunk of plaster breaking free from  
the ceiling and dusting down over them. "You'll get a  
place..." Willow sounded perkily reassuring. "We'll all  
help. Ooh! We'll look on campus, right Buff? And  
Riley," she turned, "You know tons of people who might  
be looking for a roommate, right?"

Buffy leaned up out of Xander's reach, her eyes locked  
on the screen while she, seemingly without conscious  
thought or mention, brushed the ceiling dust from her  
jeans. "YEAH RIGHT!" She jabbed a finger towards the  
screen. "Tell me you didn't just see that! There's no  
way you can land a back flip off a hollow wall, for  
one. And even if you did, you couldn't go directly  
into a spin kick! That's how you dislocate things..."  
The Slayer looked around the room for support, only  
receiving a nod from Riley, and the glanced back over  
her shoulder to see Xander. "Did you just see that,  
hun?"

"Huh?" He shook his head from where he was watching  
the steps. It would just be his luck that one or both  
of his drunkard parents would stumble down... "Oh  
yeah...drywall."

Buffy shook off her boyfriend's less than attentive  
response and turned to Willow. "And you," she  
challenged, her voice picking up a more good natured  
tone. "You were going off the other night when we  
watched that witch movie..."

"Hocus Pocus?" Riley recalled, his brow furrowed and  
he sounded skeptical about the validity of using a  
Disney movie for the purposes of an argument.

"Yes, 'Mr. In the Army Now isn't a realistic depiction  
of desert warfare'," the Slayer challenged  
caustically. She grinned when the soldier abandoned  
his argument and sat back against the cushions  
dejectedly. She turned her attention back to Willow,  
"You're all 'Nobody has a black cat' and 'What is  
that? A cauldron? Nobody uses a cauldron anymore."

"Yeah," Xander settled awkwardly back into the  
conversation. "That was verbatim, Wills. Sorry."

Willow huffed while Buffy and Xander basked silently  
in their conversational victory over the other  
occupants in the room. If any two people ever had to  
win, it was those two people. "Well it's true," the  
Wicca added to not let them get the last word. "Only  
yuppie poseur witches use cauldrons..."

--At the same time--

Demons did this all the time. It was their sole  
purpose of living...the only reason they came to this  
wretched town in the first place. It was a matter of  
prestige. The right to climb to the top of the  
mountain top and proclaim to all those who were  
reaping havoc below: "I ENDED THE SLAYER! THE ONE WHO  
WOULD NOT FALL!"

Toth was no different. He wanted to glory and he  
wanted her blood.

He retrieved his gift from his satchel and with a  
maniacal grin that was concealed by his heavy cloak  
approached his cauldron. He peered down into the  
bubbling yellow liquid and pulled back his hood,  
raising the thick chrome wand to the sky.

"This," Toth's voice boomed in the cavern. He bit his  
cracked lip in a pain he would not vocalize and forced  
his hand and the rod into the liquid. "The last step  
in thy forging is my pain..." his voice choked while his  
skin sizzled. "The price with which I purchase the  
death...of the Slayer."

The only sound he could hear in the room was the  
bubbling in the pot and a scream forced its way up and  
out of his raw throat. He could handle the pain for  
the burn, but the agony that ripped through him as his  
gift was accepted and the power filled him...he couldn't  
contain it.

--The Magic Box--

Grand opening was right around the corner. Thursday,  
in fact, and this was to be one of the last nights  
that Rupert Giles would be able to enjoy the silent  
solitude of his brand new investment. Well, almost one  
of the last nights. The children would be there in a  
few minutes and that was likely ruin the peaceful  
ambiance that he had established for himself.

Giles had just cut open another box carefully and  
pulled out the top most object for examination when it  
happened. He didn't even see anything coming, but all  
the same the front door to the shop burst open and  
almost of the hinges. Scooping up the box in sheer  
panic, he turned to face the intruder...a...a something he  
had never seen before, that was for sure.

It towered over him, cloak bellowing even in the still  
air of the room, its face a mass of hideous thick  
dangling skin with fangs snarling from its thin  
cracked lips.

Giles' eyes went wide as the creature pointed the  
object it had in its hand squarely at his chest, its  
voice a roaring boom. "You are not the slayer."

That gruff exclamation broke Giles' concentration and  
he reached into the box with one hand, grabbing an  
object for defense and holding it up to the demon he  
was facing... "Wait," he said when he saw the thing he  
was holding in his shaking hand. "Blasted rabbits fo..."  
He was cut off when the demon smacked the box out of  
his hand. The Watcher thanked his years of training  
and preparation as he was able to pounce back from  
another attack from his foe, now grabbing for an  
object he saw out of the corner of his eye on the  
table behind him. His hand curled around a solid heavy  
wooden statue, a sufficient weapon he settled and  
swung it out at the creature.

His blow was dodged and the demons laugh was as harsh  
and bone chilling as its voice. "That is a fertility  
god, feeble man." The Watcher continued to hold the  
object to keep his antagonist at bay and hoped a look  
of dismay didn't cross his features. "You will not  
distract me with..."

The conversational fighting tactic that the demon  
seemed so well versed at left him open and unprepared  
for Giles' attack. He was proud of himself when he saw  
the large beast lumber back in shock and, he imagined  
a little bit of pain, and he swung again. Having Buffy  
actually show up on time would have been a useful  
blessing, but some prayers weren't to be answered. He  
was holding his own fine with out slayer strength or  
speed. He had his uncanny mastery of hand to hand  
combat to fall back on...

Giles set himself up for another hard swing, but this  
time his opponent seemed to see it coming. The Watcher  
had been unprepared for the hard two handed blow to  
his chest that sent him flying back into a pile of  
already unpacked boxes, leaving him sprawled on the  
floor while the demon hunkered over him.

The large rod in the creature's calloused hand was  
pointed at his chest again but Giles refused to show  
his fear. "The slayer is not here," the demon barked,  
jabbing the stick forward but not connecting with his  
prone body. "You do not concern me."

His jaw was shaking when the demon turned on its heel,  
cloak flailing out behind him and strode purposefully  
to the door. He hoped that Buffy wasn't just around  
the corner...that she was staying in character and  
hadn't even left her home yet, even though she was to  
be at the shop fifteen minutes ago. Giles groaned and  
let his head fall back against the boxes, silently  
preparing himself for this weeks monster...

"Was all that stuff about me being late really  
necessary, Giles?" Buffy sounded offended from her  
seat on the floor. She looked to Willow, who was  
seated next to her and then to Xander, Riley and Oz  
who were all surrounding Giles, for support. "I got  
here on time tonight."

"The movie went off at 7:45," Riley piped in. He  
wasn't even glancing at her as he stood with his arms  
folded over his chest and watched Giles demonstrate  
his fight with the demon with the statue in hand. "You  
said that Giles wanted us here at 8 and that's when we  
left Xander's."

Buffy pouted again and Willow nodded beside her. "I  
still don't think it needed to be part of the  
harrowing tale."

"I think it shows a heroic line of thought. Protect  
his charge." Oz nodded a little to Giles. The Watcher  
stopped mid swing and let loose a pride filled smirk,  
his chest puffed out a little. "I say kudos." The  
musician clapped his hands together and the other two  
men joined in, all surrounding the older man with  
applause.

The slayer frowned and flipped the page of the book  
she was holding in her lap dejectedly while waiting  
pointedly for somebody to back her, but it didn't seem  
to be coming. She felt Willow's wide worried eyes on  
the side of her face while she fixed her own gaze with  
Xander.

Willow eyed her dark haired friend as he as he took  
the statue that Riley handed him and tried his hand at  
swinging it the way Giles had described, both watching  
with rapt fascination while imitating Giles' earlier  
display. "Well," she finally piped up and smiled  
sympathetically at the blond next to her, "I think it  
was a total embellishment. A fabrication." Buffy still  
looked skeptical. "You're never late," the redhead  
insisted. "Hardly."

"Thank you," Buffy said gratefully, and loudly enough  
for the male occupants of the room to hear, but none  
turned to look at her. "Willow."

"Oh, no problem." She beamed again, happy that her  
support helped a little. She turned back to the guys  
and saw Oz passing the statue back to Xander again,  
the latter seeming like an unhappy child with empty  
hands. Buffy shook her head at her boyfriend's wide  
smile while he swung the statue like a bat again, this  
time pretending to hit Riley who turned dramatically  
with the mock blow.

Buffy pushed herself up with one hand and kept the  
book open with the other, meandering over to where  
Xander was standing while still glancing in her book.  
When she reached his side she halted his next 'hit'  
with one hand on his wrist and he pouted. "Stop that,"  
she took it from his hand with only minor protest.

"It's heavy," Xander pointed out and Riley, Oz, and  
Giles nodded. "It's like lead."

"Wood," Giles stated as if he had crafted the statue  
himself.

"It's Oofdar," Willow said, still from her seat on the  
floor. Everybody turned to look at her, but she was  
still looking at the book in her lap. Oz quirked his  
eyebrow and left the main group, heading for his  
girlfriend.

"The goddess of childbirth."

All eyes locked on the stoic bassist while he sat down  
next to his girlfriend who smiled at him. Oz shrugged  
as Willow laid her head on his shoulder by way of  
showing her praise and they both ignored the looks  
that they were receiving. "What?" she asked finally at  
her slack jawed and silent friends. "He knows stuff  
too." Oz nodded from her side.

"You should go on Jeopardy." Riley said with a shake  
of his head.

"Gimme that," Xander frowned and plucked the statue  
from Buffy's hand quickly. He handed it back to Giles,  
ignoring her smirk, and wiped his hands on the sleeve  
of Riley's t-shirt. "Go wash your hands," he said  
urgently to Buffy as if it were the next logical step.

Buffy rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh while  
Riley shifted away from Xander. Taking a deep breath  
she turned to Giles, "So...where'd it go? He's hurt  
right?"

His pride filled demeanor faltered when asked for the  
assessment of total damage done. "Well..." he stuttered,  
"...um...hurt?" He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow  
as if deep in thought. "I...I wouldn't say hurt..." He  
grinned halfway at Buffy's look of disbelief.

Willow bit her lip and shrugged, standing to her feet  
and joining the group with Oz trailing a step behind.  
"I...I'm sure he was, y'know...startled."

Giles nodded enthusiastically at her hopeful  
suggestion. "Uh, yes, yes," he sputtered and held his  
head up high, but still didn't meet the Slayer's eyes.  
"I'd imagine it gave him, uh, rather a turn."

Buffy saw Xander nodding out of the corner of her eye  
and shook her head with a grin. She sighed again and  
leant into Xander's shoulder, fitting herself against  
him so that he hand to put his arm over her shoulder,  
and peered up at her Watcher. Her smile held a tinge  
of innocent teasing, "He ran away, huh?"

Giles frowned again and his forehead creased while he  
crossed his arms over his chest. "Um, sort of more ...  
uh ... turned and swept out majestically, I suppose.  
He said I didn't concern him."

She nodded again, "So a mythic triumph over a  
completely indifferent foe?"

Giles huffed out an affronted breath and set his  
shoulders, "Well, I'm not dead or unconscious."

The clapping started again between the other men, this  
time initiated by Riley. "Bravo," he said sincerely  
and bowed slightly towards the older man. "You  
defended Buffy," he pointed out again, "...and your  
store."

"Deathtrap." Xander pretended to cough into his hand.  
He looked around innocently when Buffy kicked him in  
the foot with hers from the side. "I'm just saying..."

"Well," Oz shrugged, crossing behind Willow and taking  
the book from Buffy's hand. He glanced down at the  
page she had been reading. "Fighting monsters for us  
is like christening." He looked around for nods of  
agreement which only came readily from Riley. "I  
haven't been to one place in this whole town that  
hasn't been a field of combat...and we're all still  
alive."

Riley pointed an enthusiastic finger at the shorter  
man. "Luck." He only received a slight head tilt of  
agreement.

"Being attacked is luck now?" Xander raised a  
skeptical eyebrow and Buffy elbowed him in the side  
when she saw Giles frown. "Look," he shifted her  
precariously from under his arm and scowled, grabbing  
his side. "I've christened things before that haven't  
ever resulted in demons trying to bash my head in..."

"Like my closet door two days ago when I forgot I had  
to knock before entering my own room," Willow stated  
matter of factly. She grinned on the inside at Buffy's  
immediate blush and the stern look Xander attempted to  
send her.

"Just like that," Xander huffed out. He tried to smile  
gamely, but Giles was pinching the bridge of his nose  
and Riley was wincing and a little flushed too. "And  
it wasn't my idea," he added adamantly. "You should  
talk to your roommate..."

"Xander," Buffy bit out harshly and punched him in the  
shoulder.

"OW," he annunciated, now grabbing his arm and turning  
to glare at her.

"If we can just change the subje..."

"Toth," Oz shrugged and handed the book he was  
holding, page marked, to his girlfriend.

"What?" Xander's pretend pained look turned into real  
confusion.

"He called you a Toth," his girlfriend filled in from  
his side, sounding the world certain. He still looked  
at her like he didn't understand. "It's an ancient  
expression for, like, moron."

Xander's lip turned up at her bright condescending  
looking smile and he ignored Riley's snickers at his  
expense. "Well then, you're the toth," he glared at  
Buffy, "You were the one looking in that book since we  
got here. You didn't see that in there..."

Giles had let their bickering run into a hum in the  
back of his mind. He crossed behind the teens and  
glanced over Willow's shoulder, reading the passage  
below the sketch drawing of the thing that had  
attacked him earlier. "Toth is the name of the demon,"  
he filled in distractedly. He finally just lifted to  
book from the girl's hands and glanced up to find  
Buffy and Xander having some sort of staring/head  
tilting contest. "Children?" he waved one hand in  
their direction and they both pouted and looked down.  
"It's an ancient demon. Very strong. Last survivor of  
the Tothric clan," he turned back to the book and  
read. "It also says that for a demon he's unusually  
sophisticated."

"Sophisticated?" Riley grunted out a chuckle from his  
new position leaning back against the counter. He had  
made his way away from the group when he had noticed  
that once Giles' had reprimanded them, Xander had  
taken a step closer to Buffy, who, in turn, had leant  
back against him, and now everything was happy and  
touchy again. That required distance on his part...and  
made him wonder why he hung out with two couples at  
the same time voluntarily. "So, uh, Buff...what do you  
know about mens fashion you can talk about before you  
slice and dice?"

Buffy quirked a smile of her own and grabbed the arm  
that Xander hadn't already wrapped around her waist to  
pull it in place. When she felt she was secure against  
him she felt his face press into her hair and she  
rocked slightly against him. "Not a thing," she  
shrugged. "This guy," she hugged her herself with  
Xander's arms, "I still let him get away with wearing  
purple pants."

"Those are scrubs, honey," Xander bent his head and  
bit out in her ear.

Buffy made no move to pull away or release her hold on  
his arms, "Yes, sweetie, but you wear them in public."

"They're comfortable, pookie," Xander rolled his eyes.  
"I don't criticize you when you wear that pink thing  
with the straps and the dog on it."

"I don't wear that," Buffy looked offended.

"It was in a box marked 'Buffy's clothes'."

"You saw that when we were sixteen and it was in the  
basement because it was from third grade," she looked  
at him pointedly over her shoulder, daring him to  
refute her avowal. She smiled when none came and he  
hugged her back against him tighter for a second,  
pressing his pout into her ear. She grinned wider when  
he whispered 'You're dumped' against her neck and  
followed it with a light kiss.

"They're referring to the fact that he does not fight  
bare-handed." Giles chose to ignore the couple and  
address, a more than willing to listen, Riley. "He  
uses tools, devices. Oh, he's also supposed to be very  
focused. And since he mentioned the slayer, I think we  
know what the focus is."

"He mentioned Buffy?" Xander perked up again. His  
voice sounded more commanding suddenly and he faced  
Giles seriously, but didn't release the slayer. "Get  
your men," he gestured to Riley, "We've got a Toth to  
kill and kill hard." The other man stood up straighter  
too and nodded to Xander.

"Now, hold on," Giles held up both hands in attempts  
to cool some of the adrenaline and testosterone fueled  
battle he could see forming. "We don't even know where  
he went..."

"Or what he wants Buffy for," Willow added. "I think,"  
she continued before Giles could, "That if Riley just  
took the info back to the Initiative and put them on  
alert we could have two forces out looking tonight."

Giles looked proudly at the other girl, but looked  
away when her boyfriend grabbed her hand. That did  
seem like a decent plan. Toth would obviously be  
expecting the Slayer to start the hunt, but would  
likely be unprepared for the covert forces that  
Riley's organization would bring. "Riley," he handed  
the book over to the other man. "Show this to your  
people, gather what information you can." He watched  
the soldier's bravado deflate as the ass-kicking  
mission turned into fact finding. "You four," he  
addressed the Slayer and her other friends. "You're to  
be on the look out tonight during patrol, yes." They  
all nodded.

"So aside from looking like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre  
reject, is there anyplace this thing should be?" Oz  
asked in a monotone.

Giles seemed to think for a second, and then winced  
from the memory alone. "There was something," his  
mouth turned up in disgust. "There was  
a...distinct...olfactory presence."

"I guess it's off to the old factory then," Xander  
nodded sadly from behind Buffy. Her neck craned up to  
see the serious expression on his face and all eyes  
turned to him and his eyes widened in defense.  
"Joking," he insisted. "Means he smells..."

"Toth," Buffy smirked under her breath.

* * *

The End Part 1


End file.
